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Old 09-28-2014, 07:52 PM   #4
LoveToCamp
TrailManor Master
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Centennial, Colorado
Posts: 885
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From your comment that one must be able to see the battery vent while in tow mode, I guess no TM nor the old Hi-Lo can have a battery inside the unit.

While my battery vent is on the side of my slide, opposite side of slide from yours, I haven't given it any thought until you brought it up. There is no way to vent to the outside while towing, as all exterior lower walls are covered. So, it made me step back and think about the "why".

The "why" is to vent hydrogen gas. I could not find information about how much hydrogen gas is created while charging, so that hurts in the information gathering. But, my supposition is that when we vent to the outside of the slide, the space it is going into is not airtight by any means. If we are driving and towing, there should be more than sufficient air turnover to eliminate any hydrogen buildup.

If we have a charger on the TM while it is closed, though, I can't make an argument for good airflow, as the slide is going to be a tight fit. Since the fumes rise, they would go into the TM itself. Left long enough on a bad charger, I guess there would be potential for the gas to build to a great enough level to blow it up, if there was an ignition source.

However, I have not seen any report of a TM or Hi-Lo blowing up while in storage (just because I have not seen a report doesn't mean it may not have happened, though). I have a solar panel on my TM, and have the panel exposed all the time. Even when my TM has been closed for a month or more (rarely happens, though), I have not had any problems. While I will continue to ponder this situation, I am not going to worry about it, nor will I try to vent the battery to the outside any more than it already is. I think that if it was a problem, someone's TM would have exploded, and there would have been a post on this forum. No news is good news.
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